AntiMatter>31337
Member
The phrase get's thrown around a lot in reference to power hungry 17" gaming laptops but I'd like to add that in fact you can get laptops with desktop parts (and they truly are power hungry beasts).
I've seen a few and for your reference I linked some of the best at the bottom of this post but the main reason I chose to write this is to see the views on them (as I don't think there is another thread on them - I did a quick check) because frankly everyone is in complete awe at first but a lot of people don't like the idea of a stupidly heavy laptop that is "not reliable" and so hard to move around you might as well just have a desktop - It'll be cheaper in any case...
I'd like to start just by mentioning there will be a poll on this post because at the moment PC Specialist do not offer any such laptop. I'd just like to see how many would be seriously interested in purchasing one. In other words don't vote for one just for the nice touch of seeing it on the site. If you would be genuinely interested in buying one then go for it! But I wouldn't want something to come out of this thread that no one is actually interested in, that would be a waste of my time and the guys at PC Specialist if they took on the customers opinion, put some hard work into it, went ahead and offered the choice and then no one looked twice.
I'll start with my opinion on them and then let everyone loose.
First off I'll start with the cons because yes they're are quite a few...
The main one for most people is the pure weight, size and general difficulty in moving them around. Coupled with the low battery life this is a real pain. These things weigh in at a considerable amount (The Origin laptop for example weighs in at about 12.1 lbs) and while battery life varies if it goes above 75 minutes I'll be surprised. This is where to make my first point. These things aren't college class notebooks. They're not even meant to really leave the trusted mains power supply. This is where people say they are useless after all what's the point in having a laptop you can't move around. But the point isn't that they are meant to be used on your casual picnic in the park. The aspect here is that people like being able to take their PC away with them and most importantly the majority of the time they can be plugged in - Holiday, a mates place, LAN party, etc. It is a lot easier to move a laptop (regardless of it's size) than your trusty i7 2600K full size tower beast!
Secondly the other key thing everyone is interested in is the reliability. I had my doubts at first I mean look at the amount of space left for airflow in a desktop and then try maintaining that level of cooling in a laptop chassis. A tough job to say the least. But after corresponding with some of the tech staff at the sites I was reassured that they have experience and that their laptops are designed with their first and most important point being to prolong part life. Now this isn't to say "Hey I know I think I'll build one of these. Throw in a top range processor, ram it with some GTX 590's in quad SLI and stick 4 Hard drives in it..." Bad idea, there are limits but to be honest with the exception of doing that... There aren't as many as you might think. The main rule here is to be sensible, it may be possible to do what i just quoted but I seriously doubt parts will last in that kind of situation and the best thing to say here is common sense. Look at your desktop tower and then look at your laptop. Envision putting the desktop in the laptop chassis. Primary response = "Hell no!"
Thirdly I refer you to the purpose and the price. Top-end laptop processors can compare with desktop gaming standards fairly well. Take the 2960XM vs the 2600K. The difference is minimal. The graphics cards have a bigger gap between them for example the GTX 580m versus the GTX 590. Now bare in mind that a top-end gaming laptop is going to cost you a lot starting at around £2100 - £2200 and only getting higher as you start to add some decent RAM and a nice shiny SSD...
This kind of cash is a serious gaming budget bearing in mind you can get a good i7 2600k build starting at around £1100 (half the price). £1000 is a lot to pay for portability without suffering with the baggage of a lower specification. These things aren't cheap either to match a top-desktop processor your looking at around £1800 - £2000 (*I'm using Origin as a benchmark for these prices but for a UK buyer I'll point out from experience postage isn't cheap, if you're considering it, get it deliverd to a trustworthy mate in the states and have him ship it over - even after insurance it'll be a fraction of the cost). Now the difference is minimal in price between a powerful laptop and a desktop replacement, bearing in mind shipping cost.
The pros list is gonna be quick because I've already kind of scattered them throughout the rest of the post. Sorry, organisational failure that I am...
The ability to move your PC is under apreciated and the weight isn't so bad once you get used to it, sure it's not a MacBook Air but it's no 40kg army backpack either.
The raw power of a deskop in your laptop is an amazing feeling. Knowing you'll not be outmatched by another laptop is a pleasant (if slightly cocky) feeling.
The price comparison with a top-spec gaming laptop is minimal difference and so in that sense if you were going to buy one why not take an interest in a bit more 'bang for your buck'.
OK that's a pretty long post already but I didn't want to miss much out and as I couldn't find any mention of it elsewhere I wanted to cover it pretty well to save on questioning. Now it's down to opinion, if you want mine - I love the idea and I can see the definite advantage of having that kind of power in portable form but I don't do enough hardcore gaming on the move and for me, despite many claims to the contrary, I don't likie the idea of tying together desktop parts in such a small space. Having said that I'd probably go for a Desktop replacement design over a top-end laptop, missing out on more for less is not my style! :rockon:
[Edit by Rakk: I've deleted the links. Please don't post competitor links, its against the forum rules]
(Those are the main builds I know of, feel free to link others, maybe PC Specialist will join that list one day)
I've seen a few and for your reference I linked some of the best at the bottom of this post but the main reason I chose to write this is to see the views on them (as I don't think there is another thread on them - I did a quick check) because frankly everyone is in complete awe at first but a lot of people don't like the idea of a stupidly heavy laptop that is "not reliable" and so hard to move around you might as well just have a desktop - It'll be cheaper in any case...
I'd like to start just by mentioning there will be a poll on this post because at the moment PC Specialist do not offer any such laptop. I'd just like to see how many would be seriously interested in purchasing one. In other words don't vote for one just for the nice touch of seeing it on the site. If you would be genuinely interested in buying one then go for it! But I wouldn't want something to come out of this thread that no one is actually interested in, that would be a waste of my time and the guys at PC Specialist if they took on the customers opinion, put some hard work into it, went ahead and offered the choice and then no one looked twice.
I'll start with my opinion on them and then let everyone loose.
First off I'll start with the cons because yes they're are quite a few...
The main one for most people is the pure weight, size and general difficulty in moving them around. Coupled with the low battery life this is a real pain. These things weigh in at a considerable amount (The Origin laptop for example weighs in at about 12.1 lbs) and while battery life varies if it goes above 75 minutes I'll be surprised. This is where to make my first point. These things aren't college class notebooks. They're not even meant to really leave the trusted mains power supply. This is where people say they are useless after all what's the point in having a laptop you can't move around. But the point isn't that they are meant to be used on your casual picnic in the park. The aspect here is that people like being able to take their PC away with them and most importantly the majority of the time they can be plugged in - Holiday, a mates place, LAN party, etc. It is a lot easier to move a laptop (regardless of it's size) than your trusty i7 2600K full size tower beast!
Secondly the other key thing everyone is interested in is the reliability. I had my doubts at first I mean look at the amount of space left for airflow in a desktop and then try maintaining that level of cooling in a laptop chassis. A tough job to say the least. But after corresponding with some of the tech staff at the sites I was reassured that they have experience and that their laptops are designed with their first and most important point being to prolong part life. Now this isn't to say "Hey I know I think I'll build one of these. Throw in a top range processor, ram it with some GTX 590's in quad SLI and stick 4 Hard drives in it..." Bad idea, there are limits but to be honest with the exception of doing that... There aren't as many as you might think. The main rule here is to be sensible, it may be possible to do what i just quoted but I seriously doubt parts will last in that kind of situation and the best thing to say here is common sense. Look at your desktop tower and then look at your laptop. Envision putting the desktop in the laptop chassis. Primary response = "Hell no!"
Thirdly I refer you to the purpose and the price. Top-end laptop processors can compare with desktop gaming standards fairly well. Take the 2960XM vs the 2600K. The difference is minimal. The graphics cards have a bigger gap between them for example the GTX 580m versus the GTX 590. Now bare in mind that a top-end gaming laptop is going to cost you a lot starting at around £2100 - £2200 and only getting higher as you start to add some decent RAM and a nice shiny SSD...
This kind of cash is a serious gaming budget bearing in mind you can get a good i7 2600k build starting at around £1100 (half the price). £1000 is a lot to pay for portability without suffering with the baggage of a lower specification. These things aren't cheap either to match a top-desktop processor your looking at around £1800 - £2000 (*I'm using Origin as a benchmark for these prices but for a UK buyer I'll point out from experience postage isn't cheap, if you're considering it, get it deliverd to a trustworthy mate in the states and have him ship it over - even after insurance it'll be a fraction of the cost). Now the difference is minimal in price between a powerful laptop and a desktop replacement, bearing in mind shipping cost.
The pros list is gonna be quick because I've already kind of scattered them throughout the rest of the post. Sorry, organisational failure that I am...
The ability to move your PC is under apreciated and the weight isn't so bad once you get used to it, sure it's not a MacBook Air but it's no 40kg army backpack either.
The raw power of a deskop in your laptop is an amazing feeling. Knowing you'll not be outmatched by another laptop is a pleasant (if slightly cocky) feeling.
The price comparison with a top-spec gaming laptop is minimal difference and so in that sense if you were going to buy one why not take an interest in a bit more 'bang for your buck'.
OK that's a pretty long post already but I didn't want to miss much out and as I couldn't find any mention of it elsewhere I wanted to cover it pretty well to save on questioning. Now it's down to opinion, if you want mine - I love the idea and I can see the definite advantage of having that kind of power in portable form but I don't do enough hardcore gaming on the move and for me, despite many claims to the contrary, I don't likie the idea of tying together desktop parts in such a small space. Having said that I'd probably go for a Desktop replacement design over a top-end laptop, missing out on more for less is not my style! :rockon:
[Edit by Rakk: I've deleted the links. Please don't post competitor links, its against the forum rules]
(Those are the main builds I know of, feel free to link others, maybe PC Specialist will join that list one day)
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